This invention relates to newspaper delivery boxes of the type used on the outside of house or apartment doors. Boxes of this type are used to prevent the theft of newspapers or other delivered material and are generally mounted either on the front door or on an outside wall adjacent the front door. Boxes of this type are known in the prior art, for example in Canadian patents 884,747 (Fibus et al) and 1,203,787 (Dupuis).
It is desirable to provide several features in such boxes. First, they should be easily lockable and unlockable, and second they should be capable of being simply and readily attached to the front door or outside wall. It is desirable to provide a box with a keyless locking system, and that is mountable without the use of screws or the like, for example by suspending the box from the front door knob. It is also desirable to provide a box that uses a minimum of material in its construction and is thus lightweight and inexpensive.
Accordingly, the present invention is a newspaper delivery box comprising:
(a) a lower body portion having a bottom and sides; PA1 (b) an upper body portion hinged to the lower portion having a one-way slot therein communicating with the interior of the lower portion, said slot being adapted to allow a newspaper or the like to be inserted into the lower portion but to substantially prevent removal thereof; PA1 (c) a lock adapted to lock together the upper and lower parts; PA1 (d) a tether fixed to the container and adapted to pass around and be firmly secured behind a closed door.
In a preferred embodiment, the upper body portion is comprised of relatively thin top and side walls and a rigid bottom spaced apart from the top wall, and the slot is provided with side walls that taper inwardly and downwardly between the top and bottom walls, the lower end of the slot being sufficiently narrow to prevent removal of objects from within the box. The sidewalls and bottom of the lower body portion are relatively thin and are attached to a rigid top having an opening therein through which a newspaper may be inserted or removed. The lock in the preferred embodiment comprises a resilent hook extending downwardly from the rigid bottom of the upper body portion, the resilent hook biased towards a corresponding aperture within the rigid top of the lower body portion. The aperture communicates with a channel that extends the length of the top. The tether is slidably engaged within the channel. The tether is provided with a projection which when it is slid past the hook pushes it outside the aperture to unlock the top body portion. In the locked position, the tether extends inside the door to be looped over the inside knob, with the projection being behind the closed door.